Ap_Mock_Exam

Sample Multiple Choice Questions Questions 1-7. Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers. This passage is taken from The Grapes of Wrath. Once California belonged to Mexico and its land to Mexicans; and a horde of tattered feverish Americans poured in.  And such was their hunger for land that they took the land--stole Sutter’s land, Guerrero’s land, took the grants and broke them up and growled and quarreled over them, those frantic hungry men; and they guarded with guns the land they had stolen.  They put up housed and barns, they turned the earth and planted crops.  And these things were possession, and possession was ownership. The Mexicans were weak and fled.  They could not resist, because they wanted nothing in the world as frantically as the Americans wanted land. Then, with time, the squatters were no longer squatters, but owners; and their children grew up and had children on the land.  And the hunger was gone from them, the feral hunger, the gnawing, tearing hunger for land, for water and earth and the good sky over it, for the green thrusting grass, for the swelling roots.  They had these things so completely that they did not know about them any more. They had no more the stomach-tearing lust for a rich acre and a shining blade to plow it, for seed and a windmill beating its wings in the air.  They arose in the dark no more to hear the sleepy birds’ first chittering, and the morning wind around the house while they waited for the first light to go out to the dear acres.  These things were lost, and crops were reckoned in dollars, and land was valued by principal plus interest, and crops were bought and sold before they were planted.  Then crop failure, drought, and flood were no longer little deaths within life, but simple losses of money.  And all their love was thinned with money, and all their fierceness dribbled away in interest until they were no longer farmers at all, buy little shopkeepers of crops, little manufacturers who must sell before they can make, Then those farmers who were not good shopkeepers lost their land to good shopkeepers.  No matter how clever, how loving a man might be with earth and growing things, he could not survive if he were not also a good shopkeeper.  And as time went on, the business men had the farms, and the farms grew larger, but there were fewer of them. Now farming became industry, and the owners followed Rome, although they did not know it.  They imported slaves, although they did not call them slaves: Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, and Filipinos.  They ice on rice and beans, the business men said.  They don’t need much.  They couldn’t know what to do with good wages.  Why, look how they live.  Why, look what they eat.  And if they get funny--deport them. And all the time the farms grew larger and the owners fewer.  And there were pitifully few farmers on the land any more.  And the imported serfs were beaten and frightened and starved until some went home again, and some grew fierce and were killed or driven from the country.  And farms grew larger and the owners fewer. And the crops changed.  Fruit trees took the place of grain fields, and vegetables to feed the world spread out on the bottoms:  lettuce, cauliflower, artichokes, potatoes--stoop crops.  A man may stand to use a scythe, a plow, a pitchfork; but he must crawl like a bug between the rows of lettuce, he must bend his back and pull his long bag between the cotton rows, he must go on his knees like a penitent across a cauliflower patch. And it came about that owners no longer worked on their farms.  They farmed on paper; and they forgot the land, the smell, the feel of it, and remembered only that they owned it, remembered only what they gained and lost by it.  And some of the farms grew so large that one man could not even conceive of them any more, so large that it took batteries of bookkeepers to keep track of interest and gain and loss; chemists to test the soil, to replenish; straw bosses to see that the stooping men were moving along the rows as swiftly as the material of their bodies could stand.  1. Which of the following best describes the rhetorical function of the second sentence in this passage' (A) It makes an appeal to authority. (B) It restates the thesis of this passage. (C) It provides a specific example for the preceding generalization. (D) It presents a misconception that he author will later correct. (E) It expresses the casual relationship between Americans and thieves. 2. In lines 20-22 of the passage, “simple losses of money” refers to (A) “valued principals” (line 21) (B) “crop failure, drought, and flood” (line 22) (C) “deaths within life” (line 22) (D) “sleepy birds” (line 20) (E) “morning wind” (line 20) 3. The speakers attitude toward Americans is best described as one of (A) profound admiration (B) reasoned objectivity (C) qualified anger (D) reasoned objectivity (E) feigned intimacy 4. In the passage, the fruit trees, the shopkeepers, and the owners all share which of the following' (A) A love and respect for the land. (B) A desire to create a revelation in the farming industry. (C) An ambivalent feeling about their roles on the land. (D) An inability to conform to their surroundings. (E) A concern for the future of farming and advanced technology. 5. In context, the word “thinned” (line 26) is best interpreted to mean (A) blinded and concentrated (B) diluted and dispersed (C) inflated and thickened (D) slender and shriveled (E) refined and undiluted 6. It can be inferred that both the imported slaves and the original Californians were fellow victims in that (A) both had lost control in their passions (B) both were weak and could not defend their land (C) neither received support (D) each had in a different way failed to restore rightful ownership (E) both were tormented 7. The authors tone in the passage as a whole is best described as (A) harsh and resentful (B) informal and analytical (C) superficial and capricious (D) enthusiastic and optimistic (E) contemplative and conciliatory Questions 1-7. Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers. This passage is taken from The Grapes of Wrath. Highway 66 is the main migrant road. 66 - the long concrete path across the country, waving gently up and down on the map, from the Mississippi to Bakersfield - over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing the Divide and down into the bright and terrible desert, and across the desert to the mountains again, and into the rich California valleys.66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact:  when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away.  And that companion fact: when majorities of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need.  And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history:  repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.  The great owners ignored the three cries of history.  The land fell into fewer hands, the number of the dispossessed increased, and every effort of the great owners was directed at repression.  The money was spent for arms, for gas to protect the great holdings, and spies were sent to catch the murmuring of revolt so that it might be stamped out.  The changing economy was ignored; and only means to destroy revolt were considered, while the causes of revolt went on. Tucumcari and Santa Rosa and into the New Mexican mountains to Albuquerque, where the road comes down from Santa Fe. Then down the gorged Rio Grande to Las Lunas and west again on 66 to Gallup, and there's the border of New Mexico.And now the high mountains. Holbrook and Winslow and Flagstaff in the high mountains of Arizona. Then the great plateau rolling like a ground swell. Ashford and Kingman and stone mountains again, where water must be hauled and sold. Then out of the broken sun-rotted mountains o Arizona to the Colorado, with green reeds on its banks, and that's the end of Arizona. There's California just over the river, and a pretty town to start it. Needles, on the river. But the river is a stranger in this place. Up from Needles and over a burned range, and there's the desert. And 66 goes on over the terrible desert, where the distance shimmers and the black center mountains hang unbearably in the distance. At last there's Barstow, and more desert until at last the mountains rise up again, the good mountains, and 66 winds through them. Then suddenly a pass, and below the beautiful valley, below orchards and vineyards and little houses, and in the distance a city. And, oh, my God, it's over. 1. In paragraph 2, which of the following rhetorical devices is most in evidence' (A) appeals to logos (B) the massing of factual information (C) the use of anecdote (D) impressionistic descriptive writing (E) the use of imagery 2. In lines 15-20 of the passage, “screaming fact” modifies (A) “repression works” (line 17) (B) “majorities of the people” (line 18) (C) “hungry and cold” (line 17) (D) “the repressed” (line 18) (E) “great owners” (line 20) 3. Which characteristic of Highway 66 is most emphasized in paragraph one (A) the splendor of the traveling down Highway 66 (B) California’s adaptability to foreign customs (C) the positive aspects of Highway 66 (D) the effects of Highway 66 in California (E) the tourism down Highway 66 4. The tone of the passage is best described as (A) analytical and sympathetic (B) informative and cynical (C) irate but carefully condescending (D) sorrowful and reserved (E) reverent and respectful 5. The author concludes the passage stating “And, oh, my God, it's over” (line 45) chiefly as an example of (A) appealing wit (B) inimitable eccentricity (C) churlish indifference (D) remorseful sorrow (E) double entendre 6. Which of the following is most likely used deliberately as an appeal to logos' (A) “orchards and vineyards and little houses, and in the distance a city.” (line 45) (B) “the broken sun-rotted mountains o Arizona to the Colorado.” (line 36) (C) “over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains.” (line 4) (D) “land fell into fewer hands, the number of the dispossessed increased.” (line 21) (E) “desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds.” (line 7) Questions 1-7. Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answers. This passage is taken from The Grapes of Wrath. The tractors which throw men out of work, the belt lines which carry loads, the machines which produce, all were increased; and more and more families scampered on the highways, looking for crumbs from the great holdings, lusting after the land beside the roads.  The great owners formed associations for protection and they met to discuss ways to intimidate, to kill, to gas.  And always they were in fear of a principal--three hundred thousand--if they ever move under a leader--the end.  Three hundred thousand, hungry and miserable; if they ever know themselves, the land will be theirs and all the gas, all the rifles in the world won’t stop them.  And the great owners, who had become through their holdings both more and less than men, ran to their destruction, and used every means that in the long run would destroy them.  Every little means, every violence, every raid on a Hooverville, every deputy swaggering through a ragged camp put off the day a little and cemented the inevitability of the day. The men squatted on their hams, sharpfaced men, lean from hunger and hard from resisting it, sullen eyes and hard jaw.  And the rich land was around them. D’ja hear about the kid in that fourth tent down' No, I jus’ come in. Well, that kid’s been a-cryin’ in his sleep an’ a-rollin’ in his sleep.  Them folks thought he got worms.  So they give him a blaster, an’ he died.  It was what they call black-tongue the kid had.  Comes from not gettin’ good things to eat. Poor little fella. Yeah, but them folks can’t bury him.  Got to go to the county stone orchard. Well, hell. And hands went into pockets and little coins came out.  In front of the tent a little heap of silver grew.  And the family found it there. Our people are good people; our people are kind people.  Pray God some day kind people won’t all be poor.  Pray God some day a kid can eat. And the associations of owners knew that some day the praying would stop. 1. In lines 1-6 of the passage, the author does which of the following' (A) offers a contrasting idea and then dismisses it (B) cites an exaggeration then dismisses it (C) presents a dilemma and then explains its difficulties (D) raises a controversy then explains it (E) distinguishes an explanation of a timeworn idea from a common occurrence 2. Which of the following best describes the speakers professed attitude toward the sharpfaced men' (A) sympathy bordering on pity (B) thinly veiled contempt (C) respect yet impatient (D) repugnance combined with hatred (E) admiration verging on envy 3. In line 7 of the passage the author uses the term “they” to refer to (A) “the tractors” (line 1) (B) “the great owners” (line 6) (C) “associations” (line 6) (D) “three hundred thousand” (line 7) (E) “every little means” (line 15) 4. In context, which of the following changes to sentence 3 (1-2) would make it more parallel to the preceding sentences' (A) switch “always they were in fear of a principal” with three hundred thousand.” (B) change “and always” to “for years, they were always.” (C) merge line 3 with line 4 (D) begin with “three hundred thousand.” (E) end with “and that was the result, to the extent of the end.” 5. Which of the following best states the subject of the passage' (A) the advancement of technology (B) the overpowering feeling of weakness (C) man vs. nature (D) the effects of time and change (E) man vs. man 6. The structure of lines 12-16 can be best described as (A) both an exaggeration followed by a series of qualifying statements (B) a movement from the particular to the general (C) an historical example followed by contemporary examples (D) a generalization followed by more generalizations (E) a claim followed by supporting details 7. The style of the passage itself is best characterized as (A) informal and colloquial (B) complex and informal (C) pedantic and ornate (D) enthusiastic and optimistic (E) contemplative and conciliatory